‘Knight’ leads offlot L.A. production

Feature activity down, TV shooting soars last week

“The Dark Knight Rises” remained the most active offlot feature in Los Angeles last week as the Batpic led shoots for the sixth frame in a row — but overall feature production was far softer than average.

The Batman sequel from director-producer Christopher Nolan, listed on permits as “Magnus Rex,” racked up nine permitted days last week, according to figures provided Tuesday by the FilmL.A. permitting agency. Locations used during the shoot include the L.A. River, under the 6th Street Bridge; Dominguez Channel near El Camino College; Grand Avenue downtown; Figueroa and 4th Street downtown; 830 S. Hill at the Broadway Trade Center; and Frank Court Alley between 6th and 7th streets.

Warner Bros. has set July 20, 2012, as the release date for Nolan’s third Caped Crusader pic.

Total feature days permitted last week were down 23% at 85 days, or 26 fewer than the same week in 2010. Feature activity rose 50% during the third quarter and averaged 160 days per week.

Other features currently shooting in Los Angeles include “Argo,” “Virtually Heroes,” Lords of Salem,” “Violeta,” “The Vortex” and “531,” which had the second-highest number of permitted days with eight.

Total permitted production days climbed 13% to 600 last week.

TV shooting soared 27% to 420 days, with “Raising Hope” the most active last week with 16. Activity rose in dramas, sitcoms and reality.